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Key Theme The two hemispheres of the cerebral cortex are specialized for different tasks, although they have any functions in common. – The two brain hemispheres were discovered by Pierre Broca and Karl Wernicke.

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Language and the Left Hemisphere 1800s, animals experiments have shown that specific functions would be lost if particular brain areas were destroyed. – Cortical localization (localization of function): idea that particular areas of the human brain are associated with particular functions. – Lateralization of function: notion that specific psychological or cognitive functions are processed primarily on one side of the brain. – Aphasia: partial or complete inability to articulate ideas or understand spoken or written language because of a brain injury or damage.

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Right vs. Left Left brain hemisphere functions in a logical way and controls the right side of your body. Initially the right hemisphere was suspected as being subordinate to the left. The right hemisphere is involved in arts, music, and spatial relations and functions in a way that seems to synthesis material. Lateralization is affected majorly by gender and handedness. Women are better at language based skills and perceptual fluency skills and arithmetic calculations, while men are better at envisioning and manipulating objects in space. It has been found that men are more lateralized than women which means they are also more affected if one hemisphere is disabled.

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Cutting the Corpus Callosum Split – brain operation: surgical procedure that is used to stop or reduce recurring seizures in severe cases of epilepsy that can’t be treated in any other fashion. – Procedure involves surgically cutting the corpus callosum, the thick band of axons that connects the two hemispheres.

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Cutting Logic A epileptic seizure typically occurs when neurons begin firing in a disorganized fashion in one region of the brain. The disorganized neuronal firing quickly spreads from one hemisphere to the other via the corpus callosum. If the corpus callosum is cut, seizures should be contained in just one hemisphere, reducing the severity or even eliminating seizures and epilepsies altogether.

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Roger Sperry Psychologist and neuroscientist used an experimental set up to test the abilities of split-brain patients. – They would direct a split-brain subject to focus on a point in the middle of a screen, while briefly flashing a word or picture to the left or right of the midpoint. – In this procedure, visual information to the right of the midpoint is projected to the person’s left hemisphere, and visual information to the left of the midpoint is projected to the person’s right hemisphere.

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Plasticity The brain’s ability to change function and structure. (The Malleable Brain) Functional plasticity: brain’s ability to shift functions from damaged to undamaged brain areas. – Depending on the degree of brain damages, some victims might have to “relearn” once-routine tasks like speaking, walking, or reading. Structural plasticity: the brain’s ability to physically change its structure in response to learning, active practice, or environmental stimulation.